Founded in 2003, the Fondation de l’ITHQ’s mission is to raise the funds necessary for ITHQ students, teachers and facilities to maintain a standard of excellence for the school. Its most important initiative provides students with the chance to work at a Relais & Châteaux restaurant for one year.

ITHQ offers courses and degrees in cooking, wine studies and hotel and event management. Established in 2008, the alliance between ITHQ and Relais & Châteaux is the only one of its kind in North America.

Relais & Châteaux is an association of the world’s finest hoteliers, chefs and restaurateurs. Membership is difficult to obtain, and numbers at just over 500. There are two member restaurants in the Montreal area, Europea and Toqué!. The dinner coincides with the association’s 60th anniversary.

Chef Christopher Kostow

Kostow, who honed his cooking skills abroad in France, has hosted three ITHQ students at his Napa Valley restaurant, and says he was impressed by the young cooks’ education, training and dedication.

Known for his dedication to excellent technique above all, Kostow’s menu has already been announced and includes dishes of winter escabeche of smoked mackerel and whipped potato cream (escabeche is a traditional technique of cooking and marinating fish); guinea hen pasta; and aged beef with truffle and parsnips cooked in wild grasses.